Monthly Archives: August 2018

Lt Gen KJ Singh (Retd)

COMANNDING Officers (COs) in the Army are referred to as Tigers and in Cavalry, they are called Commandants; naturally, they are expected to have that additional bit of swag. Like the endangered species in jungles, this breed in uniform has become nearly extinct. Social media is abuzz with lament about compliant commanders. I was lucky to be commissioned into 63 Cavalry in 1977, where one didn’t have to go to the zoo or a wildlife sanctuary to spot the Tiger.

My first Commandant, Lt Col Sudhir Sonpar, was a diehard bachelor and a real Tiger, perpetually at war with the higher headquarters. He had earned the Vir Chakra in UN peacekeeping operations in Congo as Subaltern, while fighting the Katangese rebels. He had also fought bravely in Bangladesh as squadron commander. His philosophy was simple, “Once you cross the international boundary, you are your own tiger.” The standard response to higher HQ on radio should be: “Nothing heard, out.” To our query as to how the higher HQs would know about our progress, his response was: “They will read the bloody headlines.”

He was equally on rampage on our side of the border, but some stories are best left out. It is to the credit of the system that he rose to command an Independent Armoured Brigade. He did get tamed (just a wee bit) after command and got married. Alas, we lost him after retirement.

He was followed by Col Inder Sodhi, most unflappable and real cool. Once he set off for a bit of legal shooting on Babina ranges with his entire command team in tow. This was after checking about the ranges being safe, with no night firing scheduled. Soon, we heard a deafening sound of tank guns firing. We rushed out in panic to stop the firing, which was being carried out by the regiment commanded, ironically, by his own cousin. Luckily, the shikaris had found shelter in the nullahs, though after a real close shave. Firing was stopped and after much coaxing, the party was evacuated from the target area, luckily unscathed.

The million dollar question was: will the Tiger roar and what will be the plight of the one who had signalled clearance on safety? The Commandant just smiled and remarked that with the shoot having been ruined, it was time to play bridge. When the defaulter went to apologise, he just waived him off and advised him to be more careful, specially when the entire command team is involved.

Tigers of yore, besides having a solid backbone, were unflappable and gifted with benign humour. My regiment was raised in Alwar in 1957 and those days the unit area was an extension of forest reserve and Sariska sanctuary. One morning, the CO was given a report that a ‘real’ tiger had came to the unit lines at night. He countered: who was the ‘unreal’ tiger? Alas, Tigers, ‘real and unreal’, are vanishing both in the bush and more importantly, in uniform.

Clearly, a new situation has arisen in Afghanistan, given Trump’s political imperative to withdraw sizeable US forces before the 2020 presidential elections. The US has failed to pacify the Taliban, abandoned the nation-building programme and realised that the Taliban cannot be militarily defeated without crossing into Pakistan. Khalilzad is expected to persuade the Taliban to accept a ceasefire which many see as a sign of weakness.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 14

Asserting that India had the right to bomb Pakistan as it has used terrorists to kill Indian citizens, Christine Fair, a political scientist at Georgetown University, US, today discounted the possibility that India had shot down a Pakistani F-16 in February.

• Nation page: Message to Pakistan was, don’t mess with us, says IAF ex-Chief

She was speaking at a session on “Understanding the message of Balakot” alongside former Air Chief BS Dhanoa and other Indian experts at the Military Literature Festival here.

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She disputed the radar data and various videos of parachutes and debris used as evidence to back claims of the F-16 being shot down. She said the Pakistan aircraft did not have GE engines whereas some Indian experts had claimed that the debris of GE engines had been recovered. Some of her claims were challenged by experts present.

On the Balakot strikes, she said what was important was that Pakistan was hit by Indian ordnance rather than a particular target being destroyed. “No one is questioning that ordnance landed in Pakistan, but other things are highly subjective,” she said, adding that Pakistan never saw the airstrike coming.

Fair said the lessons of the airstrike must be empirically studied on the basis of facts and not on what one wanted to believe. “Some claims being made by either side are far from real and need to be studied deeply for an objective assessment,” she stressed.

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ribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 13

In the backdrop of India’s poor track record in production of indigenous defence equipment, experts today called for the revamp of the policy and procedures, prudent fiscal planning as well as a change in the mindset to remove roadblocks and give an impetus to self reliance.

Pointing out that one of the most important lessons of the 1999 Kargil conflict was self reliance in defence, former Chief of the Army Staff, Gen VP Malik, said, “While we have to be pragmatic in projecting our requirements there are timelines involved as technology is moving at a very fast pace. If the required equipment is not procured in time, it will become redundant.”

Listing out details of poor inflows over the past few years under the foreign direct investment in defence, he said, “Without adequate money, technology cannot be procured from overseas. The role of technology in today’s environment is critical as our weapons have to be better than that of the adversary.”

“The fact is that the government-run establishments have failed to deliver,” ruedGen VP Malik.“Instead of various government departments involved in defence planning, research and development and production working in silos and in isolation, they should be interactive and sharing information. Too much protection is being given to public sector units by the government for political and other reasons depriving the private industry of a level playing field,” Gen VP Malik added.

The former Financial Advisor (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, Amit Cowshish, raised the issue of ambiguity and mistrust around objectives laid down under Make in India scheme as far as defence acquisitions were concerned.

“There is no clear-cut policy and framework laid down under the scheme. The processes to be followed are not clearly defined in the Defence Procurement Process manual,” Cowshish added.

Pointing out that officials tend to confuse procedure with policy, which makes them hesitant to take certain decisions, Cowshish said, “Indigenisation cannot be done for reducing costs alone as the process is a learning curve that involves research and development costs.”

Stressing that any critical technology required by the armed forces would have to be made in India, former GOC-in-C, South Western Command, Lt Gen Arun Sahni said, “The present focus seems to be on adopting processes and procedures rather than meeting the end result. Processes, should act as a facilitator to meet desired objectives instead of becoming an embargo.”

“The Defence Research and Development Organisation needs to be re-structured to develop only niche technologies instead of getting into manufacturing. The end users of the technology of equipment should be kept in the loop during the planning stage,” Lt Gen Arun Sahni added. Calling for a re-look at non-tariff barriers, he said, “A political will is required for the desired change at all levels to make indigenisation effective.”

While highlighting the gross mismatch between capabilities and achievements, defence analyst Rahul Bedi pointed out, “On one hand we have launched ballistic missiles, but we still cannot produce an assault rifle.”

Discussion on books on Day 1

Discussions on books dealing with defence and strategic issues as well as documentary films on military subjects formed a part of the events at the Military Literature Festival that began here today.

Modernising National Intelligence Apparatus for Internal Security Operations, The Kargil Victory – Battles from Peak to Peak, China’s Strategic Deterrence, Securing India’s Strategic Space, The Chinese Air Threat, Four Battles Fronts of a Military Hero and Major Tom’s War were among tittles on which authors’ and experts spoke.

At the specially set up Clarion Call Theatre, visitors were able to catch a glimpse of several historical aspects such as the battle campaigns undertaken by The Guards, Indian soldiers in the Second World War, Bangladesh operations and the epic battle of Laungewala in 1971.

Films were also screened on the Air Force, the Indian Navy’s submarine arm and role of the Corps of Signals in the Army. An exhibition highlighted historical facets, vintage weapons and war heroes. Serving and retired gallantry award recipients and military personnel interacted with visitors and shared their experiences about their achievements and service life.

Safety measures for defense and safeguard of artillery and people were the key points for the construction of any fort and Indian forts were beautifully developed by ruling emperors minding these points. The panelists highlighted these points during Medieval Military Architecture – Forts of India, discussion held here at venue B on the first day of Military Literature Festival 2019. The panelists also discussed the role of forts in the history and development of the nation and asserted that forts have very special role in shaping our present. Documentary films were also showcased during discussion to make the people aware of the features of Kumbhalgarh fort and Daultabad fort.Renowned historian Amita Baig also highlighted the role of nature in the construction of fort in the region. She said that the forts in India were built with nature which is missing in today’s architecture. She added that the medieval techniques for the construction of forts were incorporated with both military and civil engineering as all the natural factors were used for the protection of the fort. She added that the architecture seems to be war with nature and the trend should be reversed.Ms. Baig also highlighted the attachment of Indian people with the forts in the way of religious sentiments as she shared a story of local people while the renovation of Qila Mubarak. She said that when the renovation process started in Qila Mubarak, the locals appealed the team to allow their access to the ‘Jot’ of Baba Ala Singh.

While inaugurating the discussion, moderator Professor Pushpesh Pant said that the first Indian fort was constructed in 2000 BC by the small armies. He added that every region had its specialty of constructing forts and main things like secure place, far visibility, appropriate defense mechanism, availability of water and land to be used in tough times.Meanwhile, Lt Gen DDS Sandhu elaborated the design of forts from the angle of military architecture and said that most of the Northern forts were constructed facing North to avoid the harsh effects of rain. He added that the emperors also put the dead bodies of people to give strong foundation as Khilji also put around 8,000 heads under the Siri fort.Lt Gen Sandhu added that the existence of natural water resource and land for agricultural were also the prime requirements for the construction of a fort at any place. He said that the diversion of water channel by the Mughals forced the Sikhs to urge Guru Gobind Singh to vacate the Anandgarh fort at Anandpur Sahib as they also blocked the supply of ration.Theatre artiste GS Channi also emphasized the need of the hour to preserve the culture and history of India lying in these forts. He added that there are miles long python like ramparts of the Kumbhalgarh fort which are believed to be second after Great Wall of China. He said that there is another believes that only a mosquito could reach in the fort without the permission of the then authorities as top kisses the clouds along with other defense techniques.

Eminent experts today took part in a brainstorming session on Understanding the Message of Balakot here in the ongoing Military Literature Festival at the Lake club.Air Chief Marshall (Retd) BS Dhanoa, Squadron Leader (Retd.) Sameer Joshi, Defence Experts Mr Praveen Sahni and Ms Kristine Fair had detailed deliberations on the issue.  Air Chief Marshall (Retd) BS Dhanoa, Squadron Leader (Retd.) Sameer Joshi and Defence Expert Mr Praveen Sahni opined that the strike which was first of its kind non military preventive action in country’s history in last 47 years. They said that Pilots of the Indian Airforce were fully trained and ready to esnure no slip ups during the operation to destroy the terror camps. They said that Message of Balakot action was clear that any attempt to shelter or train militants against India would be dealt with sternly.They said that the operation was not to kill all and destroy all but was aimed for destroying terrorism training camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). They said that IAF conducted spice 2000 strike in Balakot and validated in live combat. They said that as a country Pakistan proved was habitual of misrepresenting the facts but India answered them that wherever they would go India would take them head on with its marvellous Indian Air Force.In her address Ms Kristine Fair said that lessons of the strike must be empirically studied on the basis facts. She said that certain claims being made by either sides were far from real and need to be studied deeply.Air Marshall (Retd) KK Nohwar acted as moderator of the session.

On being asked what should be the method of declassification, Sood said we need not follow the US model.

He argued that papers can be declassified after 40 or 50 years. However bright the civil services may be, they cannot have domain experts like cyber. We need to catch people early, take the example of Army. We need persons who can join after school. Gokhale said the book gives details of the times of the 1960’s and 1970’s when it was just Pakistan and China and there was no such thing as cyber or terrorism.

On political leadership understanding the work of spies, Sood reminded that in 1977 when Indira Gandhi lost elections, the new Prime Minister (Morarji Desai) had his own ideas on intelligence. Recruitment to RAW was stopped till 1983. The best arrangement is when intelligence chief has direct access to the Prime Minister. Gokhale said Kao and Gandhi had good relationship. Unnithan asked Gokhale if things attitudes within the agency which frowned after B Raman (former senior RAW official) wrote his book Kao boys of RAW.

Mumbai, December 14

Stating that threats to national security are becoming more and more complex, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Saturday advocated a “leaner and meaner force” which can secure quick victories.

Delivering the inaugural Manohar Parrikar Memorial Lecture here, Rawat also said that India’s response to terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama was much more “robust” compared to “inaction” after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

“Threats are becoming complex day by day, and it is important that we adopt a ‘whole of nation’ approach,and every citizen must be involved in national security,” he said.

National security was no longer the domain of security forces alone, he said.

“Weapon systems have become lethal. You have to look at getting victory in short time if you don’t want your people to suffer maximum damage.

“To achieve victory in shorter time, we need leaner and meaner force which will inflict maximum damage on the adversary in a faster time frame and achieve objective of victory,” Gen Rawat said.

“Political objectives can also be met before international pressures come on to you to go in for ceasefire,” he added.

The country’s defence forces have transitioned from “balancing to leveraging power”, he said, pointing out that the response to Uri and Pulwama terror attacks was “significantly robust as against our inaction after 26/11 (Mumbai terror attack)”.

“In recent times we have proved that for far too long we were punching far below our weight,” he said.

At the same time, “there is need to temper military ambitions with the size of our economy and budgetary allocations,” he cautioned.

Maintenance of “strategic balance” is our key priority, he said, adding that strategic foreign policy objectives are being achieved “with smart levering of military pressure points often without a shot being fired”.

“We will continue to act and not react,” the Army chief said, referring to responses to provocations on the border with Pakistan.

“Space for all-out conflict is narrowing,” he said, adding, “Preparedness brings deterrence. Being prepared doesn’t mean you invite war.”

“We should have the largest army in terms of technology innovation,” he further said.

Batting for a holistic approach, he said “all three services will have to integrate along with the national resources if you have to win victory through quick combat”. — PTI